Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland, a small pinecone-shaped gland located near the center of the brain. Its chemical formula is N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine, which is a derivative of the amino acid tryptophan and serotonin. The pineal gland secretes melatonin in a circadian rhythm, which is an approximately 24 hour cycle in the biochemical, physical, or behavioral processes of an organism. A circadian rhythm is an endogenous, or built-in function that is adjusted by environmental stimuli, such as daylight. It is known that the body plasma concentration of melatonin is low during the daytime, starts to rise during the late evening, and is maintained at 25-120 pg/mL during the night (over 8 hours) until it returns to the daytime baseline.
Exogenous, or synthetic melatonin has been proposed to have therapeutic potential in human subjects for treating melatonin deficiency, circadian rhythm disorders, sleep disorders, jet lag, shift work syndrome, and seasonal affective diseases. Some suggest that melatonin may also be effective in the treatment of breast cancer, fibrocystic breast diseases, and colon cancer. Melatonin has been shown to modify the immune response, the stress response, certain aspects of the aging process, sleep disturbances in Alzheimer's patients, and oxidative stress. This suggests a plethora of beneficial uses for melatonin.
Exogenous melatonin treatments suffer from several problems. Melatonin is eliminated from the blood quickly once administered. It has a plasma elimination half-life of less than one hour. When administered orally, it shows low and variable bioavailability. As with most oral administrations, it can take more than 30 minutes after ingestion for the blood plasma concentration of melatonin to reach its peak. This is partly due to the need for release of the melatonin from the dosage form followed by permeation through the wall of the gastrointestinal tract for absorption to occur before the melatonin can enter the bloodstream.
Melatonin is slightly soluble, has good permeability characteristics, and is in the class II category according to the Biopharmaceutics Classification System. Therefore, the amount of melatonin available for absorption into the bloodstream primarily depends on its solubility. Melatonin's solubility generally decreases in less acidic environments. Because the pH of the gastrointestinal tract varies significantly, different amounts of melatonin are available for absorption into the bloodstream, depending on the region of the G.I. tract the melatonin enters.
Orally administered immediate and controlled release melatonin formulations exist. Studies indicate large inter-subject variability of melatonin in the blood plasma of human subjects given melatonin orally. Other problems reported include poor oral bioavailability and a nutritional status effect on the oral bioavailability.
Various formulations of melatonin have been developed to provide release of melatonin over a 3 to 10 hour period to stimulate the body's natural release of melatonin. These formulations have not gained wide acceptance because of their variable response in patients. Patients may experience middle of the night awakening, early morning grogginess, and sleep times of less than 5 hours.
Other natural products besides melatonin are often marketed as dietary supplements, but most dietary supplements are only available in a dosage form that releases all of the active ingredients quickly once the dosage form starts dissolving in the body.